A conveyor arrangement is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,311. The known conveyor arrangement includes a separator which is constructed like an arm, the front and rear ends of the arm defining retaining fingers. The arm is adapted to be pivoted about an axis in such a way that the retaining fingers successively enter the path of the conveyor means on the rail. For stopping and for releasing each conveyor means, the arm is pivoted about the axis. This pivotal movement about the axis has, however, the effect that the retaining fingers move along a semicircular path; in the known conveyor arrangement, this effect is utilized for giving the released conveyor means a push in the conveying direction. This, however, means that precisely predetermined distances between the conveyor means cannot be achieved.
A conveyor arrangement known from German Utility Model 94 02 990 serves to separate conveyor means, before they enter a switch, in such a way that a distance is established between the individual conveyor means, which corresponds to the change-over time of the switches at a predetermined speed of the conveyor means. The aim to be achieved by this measure is that, even at very high conveying speeds, only the conveyor means to be rerouted in the respective switch is located in the switch and that the switch has enough time to change over before the next conveyor means moves into the switch. The separator used for the purpose of separating includes a deflection wheel provided with seat recesses on the circumference thereof, each of the seat recesses being adapted to receive therein one conveyor means. It follows that the distances between the seat recesses are predetermined from the very beginning and cannot be varied. Furthermore, due to the fact that the separator is implemented as a deflection wheel, the use of the separator is limited to deflection points in the conveying path.
In comparison with this prior art, it is the object of the present invention to provide a conveyor arrangement which, when in operation, permits a higher degree of variability in a structurally simple manner.